A Status Yellow weather warning for rain which is in place for Co. Donegal since yesterday (Monday, December 30) has now been extended to counties Cork and Kerry.
The warning for heavy localised spells of rain in Donegal came into effect at 11:00a.m yesterday and remains in place until 11:00a.m today (Tuesday, New Year’s Eve).
In additional Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow weather warning for rain for Kerry and Cork which came into effect at 6:00a.m today and will remain in place until 6:00a.m tomorrow, Wednesday (New Year’s Day).
The forecaster has warned of potential localised flooding and hazardous travelling conditions as a result.
Meanwhile, a Status Yellow wind warning remains in place for counties: Donegal; Galway; Mayo; Antrim; Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry. The weather warning for the Northern Ireland counties was issued by the UK Met Office.
The Status Yellow warning for Donegal, Galway and Mayo came into effect at midnight last night and will remain in place until 11:00a.m today, while the weather warning for Northern Ireland will remain in place until 2:00p.m today.
Met Éireann has said that strong to gale force and gusty south-west winds are prevalent.
The impacts include: fallen branches/trees; debris, loose objects displaced; difficult travelling conditions; wave overtopping due to onshore winds and high seas, particularly during high tide times.
Impact of weather
According to ESB Networks’ Powercheck reporting system, almost 2,000 customers are without power this morning.
The majority of the faults are in Co. Mayo with some in Galway, Limerick and Cork also. Crews are working to restore power in the affected areas and are advising customers to check the Powercheck website to stay up to date on estimated restoration times.
The weather forecast for today (New Year’s Eve) will see most areas rather cloudy and wet this morning with a band of rain drifting down over the country.
The rain will gradually move away during the afternoon but it will remain cloudy with a few isolated showers following too. Highest temperatures of 8° to 11°C with fresh to strong south-westerly breezes, which will ease later.
It will stay cloudy tonight with rain persisting over southern and central counties, possibly heavy at times. A few isolated shows will drift in elsewhere but most places will stay dry.
Westerly breezes will be strong for a time too, easing overnight with lowest temperatures of 1° to 4°.
Tomorrow, New Year’s Day (Wednesday) will be cloudy with widespread rain in the south, possibly heavy at times.
The rain will clear away later in the morning followed by a mix of cloud and a few showers, which may turn wintry again across higher ground in the far north.
Fresh westerly breezes will ease light in the afternoon with highest temperatures of 5° to 8° but turning very cold in the evening.